Page 147 of In Spades

Logan’s eyebrows darted up in surprise. He paused, waiting a moment to see if I’d retract my statement.

“Even mom and dad?” he asked tentatively.

Just hearing him refer to our parents made me want to curse them. “When you turn eighteen, you can visit them if you decide you want to. I’ll even drive you.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I said. I craned my head out the door and down the hall. Kylie had finished plating dinner, and everyone had already started chowing down. I turned back to Logan. “Now come on, I’m starving.”

“Kris!” Kylie shouted. “Your phone is ringing.”

Probably just Will, I thought to myself.

“It’s not Will!” she yelled.

Logan chuckled and shook his head.

“Damn mind-reading kids,” I muttered as I jogged down the hall and snagged my phone off the countertop. The number didn’t ring a bell, but it was local, so I answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey there,” a male voice answered from the other end. “This is Matt Hoffman calling from Coastal Financial Solutions for Kristin Boyd.”

“Speaking,” I said hesitantly.

Heaven help me if this was another debt collector. They tended to swarm like vultures. Assholes—every single one of them. It was hard as hell to dig yourself out of a pit when people kept throwing dirt on top of you.

“Wonderful!” he said cheerily. “Look, I’m sorry to be calling so late today. We’ve been swamped. I know these plans were supposed to be finalized a week ago, so I do apologize for that delay.”

Um, financial advisor says what? “I’m sorry. Plans? What plans?”

“The five college savings plans.”

“You must have the wrong number.”

“This is Kristin Boyd, right?”

“That’s correct…” I remembered seeing headlines warning about scammers and identity thieves. That didn’t scare me at the moment. I’d love for someone to steal my identity. Maybe I could trade up.

“Right. I just need to confirm some information with you before we make the money transfer. Two million to each account.”

I laughed. What else was I supposed to do? Maybe I had won the lottery despite never playing it. Maybe I’d won a publisher’s clearing house, and there was a camera crew with a giant check outside the door. But I wasn’t that lucky. Never was, never would be.

“You know,” I said. “It’s rude to scam call people at dinner time.” And with those parting words, I hung up.

I filled up a glass with sweet tea before I sat down at the table. When I looked at my phone again, there was a text from Will.

Shit. I forgot to block his number after the last time I almost caved and called him.

Will

Call Matt back. It’s not a joke

What the ever-loving-fuck?

I excused myself from the table and slipped into Kylie and Zoey’s room. Sitting on Zoey’s pink bed sheets, I scrolled through my calls until I found the number for Coastal Financial Solutions.

The call connected almost immediately.

“Um, hi,” I stuttered. “My name is Kristin Boyd. I was, uh…returning a call.”

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